1. The writer has backed up most of their claims by using research-based evidence from a range of academic sources.
2. The writer has made an attempt to synthesise sources in the article, e.g., when referring to Lo and Hyland (2007) and the Tai Po Old Market School (2003) in the same sentence to strengthen their argument.
3. The writer has used various reporting verbs when introducing the in-text citations in the essay, e.g., describes that, suggests that, insists that. However, they have overused the construction “says that”. They should have used alternative constructions instead, e.g., claims that, states that, etc.
4. The writer has been consistent with in-text and end-of-text referencing, by including all sources cited in text in the reference list at the end of the article.
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
1. Some paragraphs in the article seem to be underdeveloped and require more evidence, examples and explanation. Short one or two-sentence long paragraphs should be avoided in academic writing.
2. The writer has used rhetorical questions at the beginning of some paragraphs in the article. Rhetorical questions should be avoided and replaced with assertive statements, i.e., topic sentences highlighting the main idea of the paragraph.
3. A number of inaccuracies are to be observed in the use of in-text citations. For example, the writer has included authors’ first names and/or first name initials though these should not appear in text. Also, the writer often uses the title of the article in text while they should have put it only in the References at the end of the article.
4. The writer should have attempted to paraphrase and/or summarise rather than use so many direct quotations in the article. Importantly, when using direct quotations, the writer should have indicated page number/numbers in addition to the last name of the author and the year of publication in the in-text citation.
Professional Article Two:
Differentiated Instructions: Making School Writing Classes More Interesting.
Writing is becoming an increasingly important skill in today’s world. As a means of building links between individuals and within communities, writing serves as the flexible foundation for almost every type of communication. All teachers use writing to some extent already either asking students to do a classroom activity or as a home assignment for writing. They have students take notes during lectures or films. Students write answers to questions at the end of the chapter in their textbooks or fill in worksheets (Fisher 1986). As learners get older, they are expected to show more developed writing skills, and to complete more sophisticated tasks through their writing. But sometimes students express disapproval when they are asked to do writing tasks, specially, when students are developing their writing skills in an L2. L2 wiritng can be very challenging for the students. Generally, school students almost hate to write, because writing is often viewed as a solitary and individual task that can only be assessed on the quality of the final product of that task. Literature has shown that it is one of the skills in which learners who are learning a foreign language have more difficulties (Weigle, 2002). That’s why it might not be attractive classroom activity for them. In addition to this, writing is difficult, even in an L1.
Why pay so much attention to writing classes? Crank (2012) describes the “space” between high school and college writing and informs us that lack of writing in schools is the reason for the challenge “that students entering college are not fully prepared to do the kinds of writing tasks required of them at college”. College Composition and Communication (2010) article by Joann Addison and Sharon McGee cited in Crank (2012) says although secondary English teachers are clearly use writing instructions in class to make writing tasks more interesting and involving, students do not write enough in high school by reason that writing requires too much extra effort and takes more time than other subjects.
Writing skills do not develop automatically. A very important aspect to take into consideration is how to successfully motivate learners to write, particularly in a foreign language. According to Cameron (2001) one of the most important things is to provide learners as many opportunities to write as possible, asking students to write journal entries or texts about their interest. Harmer (2004) also suggests providing stimulating inputs that engage students, such as tasks that are challenging not only intellectually, but that can also connect to the students’ emotions.
However, Jater in 2016 article “Fostering “Good” writers: Making Writing Meaningful” insists that students see writing as meaningless busy work for themselves because they cannot embrace the purpose for doing writing. But Haley-James (1982) says that writing encourages learning when students have their own reasons for writing, and studies as the ones described by Lo and Hyland (2007) and the Tai Po Old Market School (2003) suggest that having an audience can be very beneficial in terms of developing confidence and adding an incentive
to writing. When helping school learners developing their writing skills the importance of having purpose and audience for the writing tasks, their abilities to learn, their learning styles and interests, readiness are the aspects to have in mind. Because students are different so that their abilities, interests and learning styles are also different. So educators think teachers can differentiate instructions to support language learners.
In most cases differentiated instructions are used in multi-level classes. “Differentiated instruction” is defined as a frame work or philosophy for effective teaching that involves providing different students with different avenues to learning (Wikipedia). According to Tomlinson (1999) in differentiated classroom teachers are “diagnosticians” for prescribing the best instructions for them. Teachers are also artists who use their ability to see students’ needs. In differentiated classrooms they are more in touch with their students and organize
teaching as an art than a drilling exercise. Baecher.L et al. (2012) in the article “Differentiated instruction for English language learners as “variations on the theme” advocate that differentiation is usually focused on specific small group of students rather than the whole class and involves the teacher in creating activities of the lesson.
Why differentiate instructions? Differentiation asks “to consider how well suited that single lesson is for students who have varied learning needs and, varied levels of English proficiency and literacy skills” (Baecher et al., 2012).Students come to our classroom with unique differences as people and therefore as learners. Our students have varied level of readiness to learn and background knowledge as well as with different interests and feelings. Deborah Healey (2016) insists that all learners are individuals and each of them has strengths and weaknesses as a person and a language learner. Using differentiated instructions can allow each learner to make progress in his or her own way, building needed skills (Healey 2016).
In differentiated classroom, teachers provide specific ways for each individual to learn as deeply as possible. As doctors prescribe different medications for every one of their patients, so teachers who differentiate instructions are mindful of the varied learning needs of their students and plan instructions accordingly.
The reflection of DI can be noticed in many newer textbooks in which each lesson offers different approaches to learning where learners are asked to work individually, in pairs, and in small groups with focused purposes (Healey 2016). In addition DI allows students to demonstrate what they know through learning process and encourages students to this learning process.
Some educators see differentiation in practice harder to implement in a classroom. Michael J. Petrilli in the article “All together Now? Educating high and low achievers in the same classroom” (2011) wrote about a University of Virginia study of differentiated instruction: “Teachers were provided with extensive professional development and ongoing coaching. Three years later the researchers wanted to know if the program had an impact on student learning. But they were stumped. ‘We couldn’t answer the question … because no one was actually differentiating “. It is a challenge for some teachers to implement DI into practice even though they have long training courses on professional development.
Tomlinson (1999) says that although differentiated classroom fulfill “common sense” it is still difficult to achieve for teachers. Differentiated instruction requires more work during lesson planning, and many teachers struggle to find the extra time in their schedule. For this point of view Mark Pennington in 2009 “12 Reasons Why Teachers Resist Differentiated Instruction” is talking about why teachers oppose to differentiated instructions. The reasons for this are teachers prefer much more to follow standards-based instruction because they think it is more productive to teach the way they were taught and they feel comfortable themselves by using familiar materials and strategies; every teacher has a problem of laziness because sometimes teaching is an energy requiring profession; differentiated instruction takes a lot of time of preparation, more reorganizing teaching time. As additional evidence of the ineffectiveness of differentiation, in a 2008 report “High-Achieving Students in the Era of NCLB” by Thomas B. Fordham Institute, 83 percent of teachers stated that differentiation was “somewhat” or “very” difficult to implement.
Deborah Healey, University of Oregon, points out a large advantage of DI is that it can help the teacher to engage and motivate to learn all students in the class. Although we have learners with different levels of language proficiency, DI is “an approach that helps teachers respond” to the classroom challenge (Healey 2016).
References
Baecher, L., Artigliere, M. (2012). Differentiated instruction for English language learners as “variations on the theme”. Middle School Journal, 43(3), 14-21.
Cameron, L. (2001) Teaching Languages to Young Learners. Cambridge University Press.
Chester, E., Finn, Jr., Michael, J. P. (2008). High-Achieving Students in the era of NCLB. Thomas.B Fordham Institute. 65.
Crank, V. (2012). From High School to College: developing writing skills in the disciplines. The WAC Journal 23, 49-51.
Fisher, C. (1986). Enhance Learning Through Writing. Middle School Journal, 17(3), 4-31.
Haley-James, S. (1982). Helping Students Learn Through Writing. Language Arts,59(7), 726-731.
Harmer, J. (2004) How to teach writing. Pearson Longman.
Healey, D. Introduction: Differentiated Instruction. The University of Oregon. www.americanenglish.state.gov
Jater, G. (2016). Fostering “Good” Writers: making writing meaningful. Voices from the Middle, 23(4), 62-65.
Lo, J. & Hyland, F. (2007) Enhancing students’ engagement and motivation in writing: The case of primary students in Hong Kong. Journal of Second Language Writing. 16 (4), pp. 219-237.
Petrilli, J.M. (2011). All together Now? Educating high and low achievers in the same classroom. Education Next. 49-55.
Tai Po Old Market Public School (2003) A journey from process to product in writing. Collaborative Action Research on Process Writing in English. Available from http://cd1.edb.hkedcity.net/cd/EN/Content_3702/processwriting.htm [Accessed 1 February 2012].
Tomlinson, C. A. (1999). The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners. USA: ASCD. 2-3, 11
Weigle, S. (2002) Assessing Writing. 6th ed. Cambridge University Press
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Differentiated instruction. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differentiated
Professional Article Two:
Differentiated Instructions: Making School Writing Classes More Interesting.
Legend:
Writing is becoming an increasingly important skill in today’s world. As a means of building links between individuals and within communities, writing serves as the flexible foundation for almost every type of communication. All teachers use writing to some extent already either asking students to do a classroom activity or as a home assignment for writingIssue No. 1: The phrase for writing is redundant in this sentence.
Click here for Redundancy issue. They have students take notes during lectures or films. Students write answers to questions at the end of the chapter in their textbooks or fill in worksheets (Fisher Issue No. 2: A comma needs to be used between the author’s name and the year of publication.
Click here for In-text Citations issue1986). As learners get older, they are expected to show more developed writing skills, andIssue No. 3: No comma should appear before the conjunction and because only two items are included in the list.
Click here for Comma issue to complete more sophisticated tasks through their writingIssue No. 4: The pronoun their is redundant in this sentence.
Click here for Redundancy issue. ButIssue No. 5: The conjunction But needs to be avoided at the beginning of the sentence. sometimes students express disapproval when they are asked to do writing tasks, speciallyIssue No. 6: The adverb especially should be used in this sentence., when students are developing their writing skills in an L2Issue No. 7: The full form of the phrase Second language should be used on the first mention with the abbreviated (L2) in parenthesis. Afterwards, the abbreviation L2 can be used throughout the essay.. L2 wiritngIssue No. 8: The spelling of the word should be changed to writing. can be very challenging for the students. Generally, school students almost hateIssue No. 9: Strong emotive vocabulary like almost hate should be avoided in academic writing.
Click here for Emotive Language issue to write, becauseIssue No. 10: No comma should appear before the conjunction because in this sentence.
Click here for Comma issue writing is often viewed as a solitary and individual task that can only be assessed on the quality of the final product of that task. Literature has shown that it is one of the skills in which learners who are learning a foreign language have more difficulties (Weigle, 2002). That’s whyIssue No. 11: Contractions should be avoided in academic writing. it might not be attractiveIssue No. 12: The indefinite article an is needed before a singular noun phrase in this sentence.
Click here for Indefinite Article issue classroom activity for them. In addition to thisIssue No. 13: A less wordy expression In addition should be used in this sentence.
Click here for Wordiness issue, writing is difficult, even in an L1Issue No. 14: The full form of the phrase First language should be used on the first mention with the abbreviated (L1) in parenthesis. Afterwards, the abbreviation L1 can be used throughout the essay..
Why pay so much attention to writing classes?Issue No. 15: Rhetorical questions should be avoided in academic writing. Crank (2012)Issue No. 16: The page number(s) should be given when using a direct quotation.
Click here for In-text Citations issue describes the “space” between high school and college writing and informs us that lack of writing in schools is the reason for the challenge “that students entering college are not fully prepared to do the kinds of writing tasks required of them at college”. College Composition and Communication (2010) article by Joann Addison and Sharon McGeeIssue No. 17: No name of the journal should appear in text. Instead, the writer should have given the last names of the authors.
Click here for In-text Citations issue cited in Crank (2012) says although secondary English teachers areIssue No. 18: No auxiliary verb should appear in this sentence. clearly use writing instructions in class to make writing tasks more interesting and involving, students do not write enough in high school byIssue No. 19: The preposition for should be used instead of the preposition by in this sentence.
reasonIssue No. 20: The definite article the is needed before the noun reason.
Click here for Definite Article issue that writing requires too much extra effort and takes more time than other subjects.
Writing skills do not develop automatically. A very important aspect to take into consideration is how to successfully motivate learners to write, particularly in a foreign language. According to Cameron (2001)Issue No. 21: The comma is needed after the phrase According to…in this sentence.
Click here for In-text Citations issue one of the most important things is to provide learnersIssue No. 22: The preposition with is needed in this sentence. as many opportunities to write as possible, asking students to write journal entries or texts about their interest. Harmer (2004) also suggests providing stimulating inputsIssue No. 23: The singular form of the noun input should be used. that engage students, such as tasks that are challenging not only intellectually, but that can also connect to the students’ emotions.
However, Jater in 2016 article “Fostering “Good” writers: Making Writing Meaningful”Issue No. 24: No title of the article should appear in text. Instead, the author’s last name should be followed by the year of publication in parenthesis.
Click here for In-text Citations issue insists that students see writing as meaningless busy work for themselves because they cannot embrace the purpose for doing writing. ButIssue No. 25: The conjunction But needs to be avoided at the beginning of the sentence. Haley-James (1982) saysIssue No. 26: A more academic reporting verb should be used instead of says in this sentence. that writing encourages learning when students have their own reasons for writing, and studies as the ones described by Lo and Hyland (2007) and the Tai Po Old Market School (2003) suggest that having an audience can be very beneficial in terms of developingIssue No. 27: The verb phrase to develop should be used in this sentence. confidence and adding an incentive to writing. When helping school learners developing their writing skillsIssue No. 28: The comma is needed after a dependent clause in this sentence.
Click here for Comma issue the importance of having purposeIssue No. 29: The indefinite article a is needed before a singular noun purpose in this sentence.
Click here for Indefinite Article issue and audience for the writing tasks, their abilities to learnIssue No. 30: The writer needs to be more precise by says whose abilities they are talking about in this sentence., their learning styles and interestsIssue No. 31: The writer needs to be more precise by says whose learning styles and interests they are talking about in this sentence., readinessIssue No. 32: The conjunction and is needed before the last item on the list.
Issue No. 33: It is not entirely clear what the noun readiness refer to in this sentence. The writer should have specified: readiness for what? are the aspects to have in mind. BecauseIssue No. 34: The conjunction Since should be used at the beginning of this sentence. students are differentIssue No. 35: The comma is needed after a dependent clause in this sentence.
Click here for Comma issue so thatIssue No. 36: The phrase so that should not be used in this sentence. their abilities, interests and learning styles are also different. So educators think teachers can differentiate instructions to support language learners.
In most casesIssue No. 37: The comma is needed after the introductory phrase at the beginning of the sentence.
Click here for Comma issue differentiated instructions are used in multi-level classes. “Differentiated instruction” is defined as a frame workIssue No. 38: The word framework needs to be spelled as one word rather than two separate word frame and work. or philosophy for effective teaching that involves providing different students with different avenues to learning (Wikipedia)Issue No. 39: Wikipedia should be avoided as a reference in academic writing because generally it is not a reliable source of information.
Click here for In-text Citations issue. According to Tomlinson (1999)Issue No. 40: The comma is needed after the phrase According to…in this sentence.
Click here for Comma issue in differentiated classroomIssue No. 41: The comma is needed after the prepositional phrase in the middle of the sentence.
Click here for Comma issue teachers are “diagnosticians” for prescribing the best instructions for themIssue No. 42: It is not entirely clear whom the writer meant in this sentence when saying for them.. Teachers are also artists who use their ability to see students’ needs. In differentiated classroomsIssue No. 43: The comma is needed after the introductory phrase at the beginning of the sentence.
Click here for Comma issue they are more in touch with their students and organize teaching as an art thanIssue No. 44: The word rather needs to be added in this sentence. a drilling exercise. Baecher.L et alIssue No. 45: This paper has only two authors; therefore, both authors’ names Baecher and Artigliere need to appear in text. Et.al. should be used only when there are more than three authors.
Issue No. 46: No first name initials need to be used in text- only the last name of the authors.
Click here for In-text Citations issue. (2012) in the article “Differentiated instruction for English language learners as “variations on the theme”Issue No. 47: No title of the article should appear in text. Only the authors’ last names and year of publication. The title of the article needs to be put in the References at the end of the article.
Click here for In-text Citations issue advocate that differentiation is usually focused on specific small group of students rather than the whole class and involves the teacher in creating activities ofIssue No. 48: The preposition for should be used instead of the preposition of in this sentence. the lesson.
Why differentiate instructions?Issue No. 49: Rhetorical questions should be avoided in academic writing. Differentiation asks “to consider how well suited that single lesson is for students who have varied learning needs and, varied levels of English proficiency and literacy skills” (Baecher et al., 2012)Issue No. 50: The page number(s) should be given when using a direct quotation.
Issue No. 51: This paper has only two authors; therefore, both authors’ names Baecher and Artigliere need to appear in text. Et.al. should be used only when there are more than three authors.
Click here for In-text Citations issue.Students come to our classroom with unique differences as people and therefore as learners. Our studentsIssue No. 52: The use of the first person pronoun should generally be avoided in academic writing. have varied level of readiness to learn and background knowledge as well as withIssue No. 53: The preposition with should not appear in this sentence. different interests and feelings. DeborahIssue No. 54: No first name of the author needs to be used in text- only the last name.
Click here for In-text Citations issue Healey (2016) insists that all learners are individuals and each of them has strengths and weaknesses as a person and a language learner. Using differentiated instructions can allow each learner to make progress in his or her own way, building needed skills (Healey 2016)Issue No. 55: The author’s name and year of publication should not appear twice in the in-text citation. It needs to be used either as part of the sentence or put in parenthesis at the end of the sentence.
Click here for In-text Citations issue.
In differentiated classroom, teachers provide specific ways for each individual to learn as deeply as possible. As doctors prescribe different medications for every one of their patientsIssue No. 56: A more concise phrase should be used in this sentence.
Click here for Wordiness issue, so teachers who differentiate instructions are mindful of the varied learning needs of their students and plan instructions accordinglyIssue No. 57: A short underdeveloped paragraph needs revision by including more research-based evidence..
The reflection of DIIssue No. 58: It is not clear what DI stands for. The term Differentiated Instruction should have been abbreviated on its first mention in the article. can be noticed in many newer textbooks in which each lesson offers different approaches to learning where learners are asked to work individually, in pairs, and in small groups with focused purposes (HealeyIssue No. 59: The comma is needed between the author’s name and the year of publication in parenthesis.
Click here for In-text Citations issue 2016). In additionIssue No. 60: The comma needs to be used after introductory expression at the beginning of the sentence.
Click here for Comma issue DI allows students to demonstrate what they know through learning process and encourages students to this learning processIssue No. 61: The statement is incomplete- the writer should have been more precise by saying encourage students to do what..
Some educators see differentiation in practice harder to implement in a classroom. Michael J. Issue No. 62: No first name or first name initial need to be used in text- only the last name of the author.Petrilli in the article “All together Now? Educating high and low achievers in the same classroom”Issue No. 63: No title of the article should appear in text. Only the authors’ last names and year of publication. The title of the article needs to be put in the References at the end of the article.
Click here for In-text Citations issue (2011)Issue No. 64: The page number(s) should appear after the year of publication when using a direct quotation.
Click here for In-text Citations issue wrote about a University of Virginia study of differentiated instruction: “Teachers were provided with extensive professional development and ongoing coaching. Three years later the researchers wanted to know if the program had an impact on student learning. But they were stumped. ‘We couldn’t answer the question … because no one was actually differentiating “.Issue No. 65: Direct quotations longer than three lines should normally indented. No quotation marks should be used when the quotation is indented.
Click here for In-text Citations issue It is a challenge for some teachers to implement DI into practice even though they have long training courses on professional development.
Tomlinson (1999) saysIssue No. 66: A more academic reporting verb should be used instead of says in this sentence. that although differentiated classroom fulfill “common sense” it is still difficult to achieve for teachers. Differentiated instruction requires more work during lesson planning, and many teachers struggle to find the extra time in their schedule. For this point of view MarkIssue No. 67: No first name needs to be used in text- only the last name of the author.
Click here for In-text Citations issue Pennington in 2009Issue No. 69: The year of publication should be put in parenthesis after the author’s last name.
Click here for In-text Citations issue “12 Reasons Why Teachers Resist Differentiated Instruction”Issue No. 68: No title of the article should appear in text. Only the authors’ last names and year of publication. The title of the article needs to be put in the References at the end of the article. is talking about why teachers oppose to differentiated instructions. The reasonsIssue No. 70: The singular form of the noun reason should be used here because only one reason has been introduced. for this areIssue No. 71: The singular form of the auxiliary verb to be is needed after the singular noun to establish subject-verb agreement. teachersIssue No. 72: The use of that is needed in this sentence. prefer much moreIssue No. 73: The word order needs to be changed in this sentence. to follow standards-based instruction because they think it is more productive to teach the way they were taught andIssue No. 74: The comma is needed before the conjunction and in a compound sentence.
Click here for Comma issue they feel comfortable themselves by using familiar materials and strategies; every teacher has a problem of laziness because sometimes teaching is an energy requiring profession; differentiated instruction takes a lot of time of preparation, more reorganizing teaching time.Issue No. 75: This is a run-on sentence that needs to be revised by dividing it into two or even three shorter sentences.
Click here for Run-on Sentence issue As additional evidence of the ineffectiveness of differentiation, in a 2008 report “High-Achieving Students in the Era of NCLB” by Thomas B. Fordham InstituteIssue No. 76: Instead of giving the details about the report, the writer should have included the last names of the authors and year of publication.
Click here for In-text Citations issue, 83 percent of teachers stated that differentiation was “somewhat” or “very” difficult to implement.
DeborahIssue No. 77: No first name or first name initial need to be used in text- only the last name of the author.
Click here for In-text Citations issue Healey, University of OregonIssue No. 78: The author’s affiliation should not appear in text.
Click here for In-text Citations issue, points out a large advantage of DI is that it can help the teacher to engage and motivate to learn all students in the class. Although we have learners with different levels of language proficiency, DI is “an approach that helps teachers respond” to the classroom challenge (Healey 2016)Issue No. 79: The author’s name should not appear twice in the in-text citation. It needs to be used either as part of the sentence or put in parenthesis at the end of the sentence.
Click here for In-text Citations issue.
ReferencesIssue No. 80: A number of issues with the use of sources have been identified in this article: 1. The writer should have used more up-to-date sources as references. A number of sources were published more than 10 years ago, e.g., Cameron (2001), Fisher (1986), Haley-James (1982), etc. 2. The writer should have used only academic sources as references. For example, Wikipedia is not a reliable source and should be avoided as a reference. 3. The writer should have italicised the book titles and included the place of publication for every book reference. In several sources, e.g., Cameron (2001), Harmer (2004), Weigle (2002), the titles of the books are not italicised. 4. The writer should have been consistent with capitalising words in the title of the journal articles. In some sources, they have capitalised only the first word in the title, e.g., Baecher & Artigliere (2012), in some- the first word in the title and the first word after the colon, e.g., Lo & Hyland (2007), and in others- all words in the title, e.g., Fisher (1986). 5. The writer should have italicised the names of the journals and the volumes. In several sources, e.g., Baecher & Artigliere (2012), Crank (2012), Haley-James (1982), the journal names and volumes do not appear in italics.
Baecher, L., Artigliere, M. (2012). Differentiated instruction for English language learners as “variations on the theme”. Middle School Journal, 43(3), 14-21.
Cameron, L. (2001) Teaching Languages to Young Learners. Cambridge University Press.
Chester, E., Finn, Jr., Michael, J. P. (2008). High-Achieving Students in the era of NCLB. Thomas.B Fordham Institute. 65.
Crank, V. (2012). From High School to College: developing writing skills in the disciplines. The WAC Journal 23, 49-51.
Fisher, C. (1986). Enhance Learning Through Writing. Middle School Journal, 17(3), 4-31.
Haley-James, S. (1982). Helping Students Learn Through Writing. Language Arts,59(7), 726-731.
Harmer, J. (2004) How to teach writing. Pearson Longman.
Healey, D. Introduction: Differentiated Instruction. The University of Oregon. www.americanenglish.state.gov
Jater, G. (2016). Fostering “Good” Writers: making writing meaningful. Voices from the Middle, 23(4), 62-65.
Lo, J. & Hyland, F. (2007) Enhancing students’ engagement and motivation in writing: The case of primary students in Hong Kong. Journal of Second Language Writing. 16 (4), pp. 219-237.
Petrilli, J.M. (2011). All together Now? Educating high and low achievers in the same classroom. Education Next. 49-55.
Tai Po Old Market Public School (2003) A journey from process to product in writing. Collaborative Action Research on Process Writing in English. Available from http://cd1.edb.hkedcity.net/cd/EN/Content_3702/processwriting.htm [Accessed 1 February 2012].
Tomlinson, C. A. (1999). The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners. USA: ASCD. 2-3, 11
Weigle, S. (2002) Assessing Writing. 6th ed. Cambridge University Press
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Differentiated instruction. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differentiated
Activities:
Question 1:
Identify a common problem in paragraph 2 and paragraph 6 of the article?
A: Both paragraphs contain insufficient evidence from the previous researchIncorrect: This is not a problem in paragraphs 2 and 6 because both paragraphs contain sufficient evidence from the literature.
B: Both paragraphs need topic sentences appropriate for academic writingCorrect: Both paragraphs begin with a rhetorical question, which should be avoided in academic writing. Both paragraphs are missing a clear topic sentence at the beginning of the paragraph that would contain the main idea of the respective paragraph.
C: Both paragraphs use secondary citations inaccuratelyIncorrect: The secondary citation is used only in paragraph 2 and contains some inaccuracies. Specifically, no name of the journal should have been given in text. The writer should have also avoided using the authors’ first names and referenced the source by the last names of the authors only. No secondary citation is used in paragraph 6 of the article.
Question 2:
In which of the paragraphs has the writer synthesised the sources skilfully?
A: Paragraph 2Incorrect: The writer has not attempted to synthesise sources in this paragraph. They have, however, used a secondary citation in this paragraph.
B: Paragraph 3Incorrect: The writer has not used synthesis in this paragraph. They have, however, found some relevant arguments from two different sources to support the idea of motivating learners to write.
C: Paragraph 4Correct: The writer has synthesised two sources in this paragraph, e.g., Lo and Hyland (2007) and the Tai Po Old Market School (2003) to back up one claim.
Question 3:
Identify the problem with the quotation beginning “Teachers were provided with extensive professional development…” in Paragraph 9.
A: A long direct quotation (longer than 3 lines) should have been indentedCorrect: This direct quotation is overly long. It should have either been paraphrased or indented, i.e., with no quotation marks used.
B: It is not entirely clear who the author of the citation is and when it was publishedIncorrect: This is not a problem with this citation because the author’s last name and the year of publication are given. However, the writer should not have included the first name and the title of the article.
C: The citation has not been discussed or commented on after it has been introduced in the articleIncorrect: This is not a problem with this citation because the writer has commented on the quotation in the sentence that follows it.
Question 4:
Which of the sources in the Reference list should not have been used by the writer?
A: Harmer (2004)Incorrect: Although a bit outdated, i.e., published more than 10 years ago, this is an authoritative academic source, a relevant book on teaching writing.
B: Jater (2016)Incorrect: This is an appropriate academic source to use, i.e., a current journal article.
C: Wikipedia, the free encyclopaediaCorrect: Wikipedia should not be used as a reference in academic writing because it is not a reliable source of information.